Geological Agency reacts to earth tremors in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja

The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has sought to reassure residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, following recent reports of earth tremors in the region.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Prof Olusegun Ige, Director-General of the NGSA, disclosed that the agency had closely monitored the seismic activity and confirmed that the tremors were low in magnitude.

He emphasised that there was no evidence to suggest that the tremors posed any significant threat to the safety of the environment or its inhabitants.

The statement read, “The Monitoring Station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024, till date. Only one mild event was recorded on September 13th. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities.”

Ige explained that more than 20 events were recorded on the 16th of September.

The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to 16th of September.

According to him, preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions were less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.

Ige said its team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events.

From the accounts of the residents of the affected areas, the observations by the NGSA team, and findings from earlier interpretations of the airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas, it said the following conclusions were made:

He said the tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have travelled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT.

“There are multiple epicentres associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicentres are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around the Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the Station around the Katampe axis.

“The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III-IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low level threat.

“The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low. The agency is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.”

However, he advised the public to also be aware that the NGSA Seismic Stations are being monitored in real-time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event.

Diaspora Digital Media had earlier reported how tremors happened in Abuja recently.

Earth Tremors in Nigeria:

Earth tremors have become a recurring phenomenon in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. Despite being considered seismically safe, Nigeria has experienced various earth tremors over the years, with notable instances reported in 1984, 2016, 2015, and 2018.

The 2018 earth tremors, which occurred in September and November, affected the Mpape and Maitama areas of Abuja, with magnitudes below 3.0.

Similarly, in 2015, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) reported mild, low-intensity tremors in the same areas.

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